New AC Milan head coach Sergio Conceicao insists he will on be seeing an opponent when he leads the Rossoneri to battle against his son Francisco’s Juventus in his first game, Soccernet.football reports.
Milan appointed Conceição as their new head coach on Monday, and he will make his debut in Friday’s Supercoppa Italiana semi-final against Juve where the Rossoneri boss will face his son, who moved to Turin from Porto last summer.
However, Milan’s boss refuses to get sentimental, firmly stating that their familial ties will stay at home as both he and his son approach the game with the sole aim of securing victory.
“I just have a cold and I’ve had a fever these days, if you see my eyes are a little shiny it’s because of that,” Conceicao said as quoted by Tuttomercato.
“At home I’m his father, tomorrow my son will be my opponent: he will think the same way.”
“I want to beat him as he wants to beat me. I hope I don’t make him happy.”
Conceicao also lauded the attitude of the current AC Milan squad but the Portuguese manager was quick to note that he has had little time to prepare and get his message across to his players.
“I found a team that is humble, eager to learn, and wants to understand what the coach requires,” he said.
“This is very important; it is the foundation for quality work, in my opinion. We haven’t had much time to work, but we’ve been effective in conveying what is needed.
“If you had asked me whether I would have liked more time to work and have all the players available, I would have said yes.
“We still have two training sessions before the match, and we aim to be sharp about what we want to do, We need to easily grasp what’s important for the game in order to try and win, which is fundamental for us.
“We work the same way regardless of the opponent, aiming to improve areas where I think we can. I know the current moment isn’t great, but we need to change it, and only we, together with the players, can do that.
“Words don’t mean much; at big clubs like this, results are what matter, and that’s what we’ll aim for, starting tomorrow.”